OSHP, ODOT unveil new driving safety corridor along I-70
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BARNESVILLE -- In an effort to curb distracted driving issues, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Ohio Department of Transportation teamed up to launch a distracted driving safety corridor along Interstates 70 and 470 in Belmont County.
OSHP and ODOT unveiled the new safety corridor Friday morning. ODOT crews have installed numerous signs over the past few weeks along the interstates to alert drivers when they enter the corridor.
Lt. Maurice Waddell, commander of the OSHP St. Clairsville Post, said the corridor is the longest distracted driving corridor in the state of Ohio and is meant to create awareness of distracted driving and remind motorists to focus on the roadway when driving.
"The purpose of this distracted driving safety corridor is to send a message of education and awareness of the problem, while also addressing it through traffic enforcement. We're going to have troopers out here in this zone from (milemarker) 205 to the state line on Interstate 70 and the entire length of Interstate 470 looking for these distracted driving violations," he said.
The corridor spans a total of 27 miles -- 20 miles of Interstate 70 from mile marker 205 to the Ohio/West Virginia state line and 7 miles of Interstate 470.
Waddell said the stretch of roadway was selected for the corridor because it has been a prevalent area for distracted driving-related incidents.
"We have a significant amount of crashes on this stretch of roadway and that's why we decided to put in a safety corridor here with a partnership with ODOT," he said.
There were 13,532 distracted driving-related crashes resulting in 48 fatalities last year in Ohio, according to the OSHP.
Waddell said there are three categories with distracted driving:
∫ Visual: drivers taking their eyes off the roadway;
∫ Manual: drivers removing their hands off the wheel;
∫ Cognitive: drivers taking their minds off driving.
"We just want to send a message that you need to pay attention and be aware of your surroundings and focus solely on driving," he said.
ODOT District 11 Deputy Director Tom Corey said the corridor is extremely important for ODOT.
"Distracted driving when you're on the phone, it becomes almost like a weapon when you're behind the wheel. At ODOT, we have 326 workers in our district and over half of them are working along the highway every day," he said.
Corey said ensuring the safety of the department's workers is imperative. There have been approximately 20 ODOT vehicle contracts with the public this year throughout the state, he said.
"They're probably not all related to distracted driving, but that is a contributing factor to some of the accidents," he said.
The county's new safety corridor will be a permanent fixture, Waddell said. Motorists should expect to see additional troopers in the corridor as well as increased enforcement of the violations associated with distracted driving," he said.
"This distracted driving corridor coincides with the Six-State Trooper project which started today (Friday) and runs through Sunday. That's with the OSHP, the Indiana State Police and Pennsylvania State Police. We're all focusing on Interstate 70 looking for speed violations, safety belt violations and OVI enforcement. With those violations in addition to if someone is distracted while doing those violations, the consequences could be devastating," he said.